Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
What conclusion do you draw from the chart and one key days of taxation policy changes that you feel we’re not passed onto to the consumers and how do the taxation policies in other provinces affect the average. I think you are showing the December average price which to my knowledge there were no major tax policy changes.
So it appear Alberta had lower gas prices for longer than the national average but ended the year and started the month in a similar spot. You can just start to see the increase in gap due to the Jan 1 23 policy change. I don’t see a failure to pass savings along by this graph. What to you see it as evidence of?
Go look at the 18 month chart and look at the delta between Canada -Alberta fas
Price in 2021 compared to today. Also the gas tax difference is 4.5 cents per litre not 13 cents as we weren’t previously collecting the full amount.
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But to the layperson, after weeks of declining prices, the timing and optics are suspicious. In the the province where part of the gas tax is being paused, prices went up 4 cents per day for the last 3 days prior to the tax being paused. Plus the prices on the 1st stayed the same, despite the tax being paused (which is effectively another 4.5 cent "increase").
The chart is just illustrating that Calgary saw increases on the eve of the tax pause that were many times greater than the national average in the 3 days prior. Coincidence? Market forces? Refining costs spiking (that's a common one)? Overdue correction? Of course prices fluctuate, and we are still paying a lot less than the national average and what we were paying previously. The complaint isn't what we are paying, but the possibility of the UCP's "gesture" being completely obfuscated by a last-minute flurry of price increases.
The timing is just suspect, and the consumer has no way of investigating the price setting process and the margins. The UCP was going to investigate this, but that fell off of the radar. So now we're just with the status quo of "trust us - this is a coincidence".